Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09CARACAS281
2009-03-05 18:30:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Caracas
Cable title:  

ANTI-SEMITISM UPDATE - TENSIONS ABOUND ONE MONTH

Tags:  PHUM KIRF PREL PGOV VE 
pdf how-to read a cable
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ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 051830Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY CARACAS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2689
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS PRIORITY
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV PRIORITY 0077
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 000281 

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR DRL/SEAS (GRICKMAN)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/04/2029
TAGS: PHUM KIRF PREL PGOV VE
SUBJECT: ANTI-SEMITISM UPDATE - TENSIONS ABOUND ONE MONTH
AFTER SYNAGOGUE ATTACK

REF: CARACAS 0184 AND PREVIOUS

CARACAS 00000281 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR FRANCISCO FERNANDEZ,
REASON 1.4 (D)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 000281

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR DRL/SEAS (GRICKMAN)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/04/2029
TAGS: PHUM KIRF PREL PGOV VE
SUBJECT: ANTI-SEMITISM UPDATE - TENSIONS ABOUND ONE MONTH
AFTER SYNAGOGUE ATTACK

REF: CARACAS 0184 AND PREVIOUS

CARACAS 00000281 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR FRANCISCO FERNANDEZ,
REASON 1.4 (D)


1. (C) Summary: Anti-Semitism continues to be a problem in
Venezuela despite the Government of the Bolivarian Republic
of Venezuela's (GBRV's) pledge to address this issue in the
wake of the January 31 attack on the Caracas synagogue. On
February 26, unknown assailants threw a small explosive
device into a Caracas Jewish community center. No one was
hurt in the incident and no group took responsibility for the
attack. A government-funded orchestra almost withdrew from a
production of "Fiddler on The Roof" for fear of government
reprisals for participating in a show with "Jewish content."
Jewish community leaders accompanying a ten-person American
Jewish Committee (AJC) delegation visiting Caracas on a
fact-finding mission met with the Charge March 2. They said
many members of Venezuela's 15,000 Jewish community believe
the problem of anti-Semitism in Venezuela will only get worse
and are actively considering emigrating. Given the
government's tendency to blame current ills on opposition and
foreigners, it is likely that the community could continue to
be targeted for harassment. End Summary.

--------------
ATTACK ON A JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER
--------------


2. (SBU) Unknown assailants threw a small explosive like
device February 26 at a Jewish community center in the
affluent La Florida neighborhood of Caracas. According to
the center's director, Abraham Garzon, there were no injuries
or damage to the facility. Carzon said, however, "the damage
is spiritual because it appears there are some people in our
country that are dedicated to terrorism, something that never
existed before." Immediately following the attack, GBRV
officials promised to investigate and pursue those
responsible for the incident.


3. (C) Unlike similar previous small grenade attacks against
persons associated with anti-Chavez sentiments, however, this
time the assailants left no pamphlets or visible propaganda

behind expressing possible motives for the early morning
attack. A Jewish community leader told Poloff that GBRV
officials, including Foreign Minister Maduro, promptly
reassured that there would be a full investigation. GBRV
officials reportedly attributed the attack to extremists
"beyond the government's control."

--------------
"FIDDLER ON THE ROOF" ALMOST CANCELED
--------------


4. (SBU) Coincidentally, media reported on February 26 that
the Gran Mariscal of Ayacucho Symphony Orchestra was
considering canceling a theater production of the musical
"Fiddler on the Roof." According to the local press, Michel
Hausmann and Yair Rosemberg, producers responsible for
bringing the musical to Caracas, received a phone call from a
director of Ayacucho explaining that the cultural association
received an official subsidy from the GBRV, and "since the
play contained Jewish material, and the Government has
declared its hostility to Israel, it was inconvenient for
Ayacucho to be associated with the musical." Following a last
minute scramble to attempt to replace the Gran Mariscal of
Ayacucho Symphony Orchestra, the majority of the Ayacucho
musicians volunteered to perform the musical as "private"
musicians, and not under the official label of the Gran
Mariscal of Ayacucho. The musical opened on Saturday
February 28 and is currently being performed at the Central
University of Venezuela (UCV) in Caracas.


5. (SBU) According to Teodoro Petkoff, a prominent
opposition figure and journalist, the decision to cancel
Fiddler on the Roof did not come from orders from above. The
decision to cancel the musical was actually due to Ayacucho's
desire to be politically correct. Petkoff noted in a recent
"Tal Cual" op-ed that "the regime of this country cannot be
categorized as totalitarian; however, cases like this are
beginning to appear, as symptoms of the sickness of this
society." Petkoff warned readers further that "when society
begins to be dominated by fear, it begins to take the road to
totalitarianism, and not only in public powers but also in
the controls of collective thought."


CARACAS 00000281 002.2 OF 002


--------------
American Jewish Committee Visits Caracas
--------------


6. (C) Charge' and Emboffs met March 2 with a ten-member
delegation of the American Jewish Committee (AJC) conducting
a fact-finding trip to Venezuela. Members of the
Confederation of Jewish Associations in Venezuela (CAIV)
accompanied the AJC and told the Charge that many in the
Jewish community of some 15,000 fear that anti-Semitism is
only going to get worse in Venezuela. They noted that the
Colombian government has offered to give asylum to any
Venezuelan Jew who wishes to become a citizen of Colombia and
urged the USG to be prepared to receive potential Venezuelan
Jewish asylum-seekers. Charge explained in detail USG
non-immigrant and immigrant visa procedures as well as asylum
practices. CAIV members lamented that despite GBRV
assurances that the government would address the Jewish
community's concerns about growing anti-Semitism in
Venezuela, there continued to be incidents such as the attack
on the community center. CAIV members did note that there
has been at least a temporary reduction of anti-Semitism in
state media.

--------------
Comment
--------------


7. (C) Embassy's interlocutors in the Jewish community
believe the GBRV's willingness to back-peddle from its
previous levels of anti-Semitic rhetoric is in direct
response to the international reaction to the synagogue
attack. Regrettably, despite the GBRV's ostensible change in
course, Venezuela still is plagued by a residual anti-Semitic
climate. Such a climate almost certainly contributed to the
attack on the Jewish community center and the absurd
near-cancellation of the staging of "Fiddler on the Roof." It
is also possible that the Jewish community, which is
considered by and large to support the opposition, could be
the subject of greater hostilities if the government needs a
convenient straw man to distract its supporters from the
serious economic problems forecast for the near to medium
term.
GENNATIEMPO